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40 | BEAUTY LAUNCHPAD | APRIL 2017 He may be the founder of Surface Hair, but Wayne Grund is still a small-town Canadian boy at heart. —FRANCESCA MOISIN Below the SURFACE Live & Learn/ POV I grew up in Watson, a rural town in the western-central Canadian province of Saskatchewan. My grandfather, dad and uncle were barbers, and two of my aunts were hairdressers. When I was 7-years-old, my job was to sweep up hair and clean my dad's barbershop (Johnny's Barbershop). After I turned 13, I started barbering alongside my father. In the winter, my friends and I played hockey; in summer, we fi shed and camped. It was an idyllic childhood, and there was never doubt about the career path I'd follow. After graduating high school with 28 of my classmate-pals, I enrolled in cosmetology classes at Kelsey, a tech school in neighboring Saskatoon. I fi nished in 1977 and scored my fi rst job at Jack's Hair Shack. Tuesday nights were dedicated to ongoing training sessions, which everyone attended—it didn't matter what else was happening, training came fi rst. My father likewise encouraged me to continuously advance my career, so next I began entering competitions. When I was 19, I won the Canadian men's cutting competition; then one year later I took home top honors in the women's competition. My parents were both tremendous "people" people. Those they met were never strangers, but rather friends within moments. This instilled in me a simple yet essential formula for success: Stylists must sincerely connect with people and become involved in their communities. I'm lucky that, to this day, I still get to work alongside family. Before turning 50, I grew interested in personal well-being, and thus became aware of toxins found in numerous haircare products. So I launched Surface Hair, intent on achieving ultimate salon-exclusive haircare, styling and color performance, while respecting the personal health of stylists, clients and our planet. My wife Debra serves as the company CFO. Most mornings we wake up at 6:00 a.m and have coffee, work out, then provide our Salon Growth Management team with whatever form of education, marketing or management support they may need. Our son, Nathan, is VP of operations, and his wife, Becca, is VP of education. Our daughter, Jackie, works wonders as VP of product innovation, and her husband, Clay, is a whiz as VP of marketing. By 5:00 p.m. most nights I'm having a beer with Debra, then we're making dinner—I love to cook. My most relaxing times are those spent with our grandkids or short getaways with Debra, whether to our lake house, Napa, California or New York. I'm proud to call Saskatoon home. In some ways, I'm still that same small-town kid at heart. COURTESY OF SURFACE HAIR 1 At the SalonCentric show in Omaha, Nebraska, Grund demonstrates advanced styling techniques. 2 It's all in the family (from left): Nathan Grund (son), VP of operations; Becca Grund (daughter-in-law), VP of education; Jonny Grund (grandson), Jillian Grund (granddaughter); Zack Adams (son-in-law); Sheena Adams (daughter); Sophia Adams (granddaughter), founder Wayne Grund; Debra Grund (wife) and CFO; Jackie Yochim (daughter), VP of product innovation and editorial stylist; Ivy Yochim (granddaughter); Clay Yochim (son-in-law) VP of marketing and graphic design 3 Grund at Premiere Orlando in Florida 4 Grund fashions tresses on stage at America's Beauty Show in Chicago. 1 2 3 4